Over the past month, I have been able to try out different types of cuisines that I had never had before. I share some of my ‘food’ experiences.
1. Chinese Hot Pot
So the first cuisine I had was Chinese Hot Pot. I had never been to a hot pot restaurant before, therefore I had no idea what to expect. When we arrived at the restaurant, because it was a Friday evening it was quite full, but we were quickly shown to our table and right in front of us was our ‘cooking stove’. Straightaway, it dawned on me the meaning of ‘hotpot’, which was that we would literally be cooking our own meal. “Okay,” I thought. This shouldn’t be too bad. First of all, we had to select our soup base, which would be the ‘foundation’ of our meal and the cooking pot for all that we would be eating. Then, we had to order the red meat we would like. For example, the different cuts of beef that we would like to incorporate into our ‘hotpot’. After this, we were shown to the buffet area where we had to select our ‘supporting ingredients’ for our meal. The choices included; different types of seafood, vegetables, and lots of other items I absolutely did not recognise. But, I selected all that I could recognise or asked the servers what each food item was if I was really intrigued.
Overall, it was quite a good experience. The meal was very fitting for the weather that day. It was bitterly cold outside but the heat from the cooking hotpot in front of you as well as the hot soup you digest was able to counteract whatever cold air might have wafted in.
I would recommend trying out the ‘hot pot’ experience.
2. Kyoto Japanese
So for my second cuisine, I tried Kyoto Japanese. Since I had never eaten at this particular restaurant before either, it was recommended that I try the Bento Box. Mind you, as a student, I had tried several of the dishes listed in the bento box separately. For example, I have tried store bought sushi and quite enjoyed it. Yes, I know it’s not the ‘authentic’ sushi. Not sushi is sushi sha! Eating the restaurant prepared sushi was quite a different experience. I learnt that there are different forms of sushi and the difference between sushi and sashimi. I decided that I preferred sushi as it seemed more appealing to my palette. Sushi consists of rice wrapped around raw/slightly cooked fish, in comparison to sashimi which was plain raw fish.
In case you were wondering, there is a clear difference between store bought sushi and restaurant made sushi! Overall, the bento box was delicious, the portions were just right and it gave me a chance to sample a bit of everything.
I also particularly enjoyed the restaurant layout. We were seated in a little private room that was set up like you were sitting on the floor to eat. In actual fact, the table was placed in a hole and the chairs were shorter so you could slide the chair under the table to sit. It was an amazing idea and added to the authenticity of the experience.
For any Kyoto Japanese first-timers, I would definitely recommend trying the ‘Bento Box’.
3. Somalian cuisine
I recently attended an event where I tasted Somalian cuisine for the very first time ever. I was pleasantly surprised! It was definitely delicious. I was particular fond of the chicken! It was well seasoned, yet it wasn’t overwhelming. It was also encouraging that they served a whole chicken leg. (:D) That was totally filling. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed the meal.
Have you tried any of these cuisines? If so, what were your thoughts?
Keep On Keeping On
Mo 🙂 x
Musings with Mo 